Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
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Ok, so right now the world is all about the smartphone and AAPL is down because Wall Street doesn't believe that Apple will come up with another revolutionary product. Let's just begin with noting that Apple does not come up with revolutionary products, but merely perfects existing products and wipe out the earlier implementations of said products.
There are two gadgets that to me look like promising new form factors for the next step: The Pebble smart watch and Google's glasses. The idea of a smart watch or a watch phone is not new, but so far the implementations have been falling short of what would be needed to supersede the smart phone. The existing watch phones are basically dumb phone in a wrist watch and the Pebble is actually just a Bluetooth peripheral to a smart phone. None of them are self contained smart phones as would be needed to supersede the present smart phones. The form factor also have some challenges that needs to be addressed before I think it can succeed. The main problem seems to be the very small screen size which is a pretty big disadvantage considering that smart phones are mostly interacted with though the screen. There are also some other issues, such as where to put the speaker for phone calls, but these things can be worked out by clever engineering. Google Glasses seems to answer the screen question, and adds some neat possibilities for augmented reality. But if you feel that wearing a Bluetooth earpiece makes you look dorky then these glasses are going to make you cringe. Yet in terms of functionality, I suspect that Google might be on to something, but if it's enough to overcome the dork factor, I don't know. And then there's the whole issue of having Google constantly lurking the same things as you see as Im quite convinced that at least Google's implementation of smart glasses will be relying heavily on cloud connection. I myself would probably prefer the watch form factor despite the screen size challenge. What do you guys think? |
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Yarp
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Road Warrior
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Just saw this mockup of a see-through iPad concept and I think something along those lines really could 'work' in terms of being next-gen and groundbreaking in a similar way to the iPhone. It's not exactly a new form factor necessarily, but I think that something approaching that level of seamlessness and minimalism is inevitable and until we get to that point, we probably won't see the next wholly different form factor.
http://designtaxi.com/news/355781/A-...h-iPad-Design/ Other than that, Wearable computing does, I think, have a real chance at taking off in the next 10 years. I personally think Google Glass is kind of dumb, I think smart watches are kind of dumb, but that's maybe because the tech isn't quite 'there yet' to make them disruptive and special. I mean, I used to think the tablet form factor was pretty dumb back in the "Tablet PC" days and now I am thinking of getting a second iPad because of how much I love the form factor. You do look like a dork wearing bluetooths, and while people use watches as fashion accessories, I think it's unlikely a consumer smart watch would ever be considered 'designer' in that regard so you'd probably look dorky with it as well. Google Glass of course looks even dorkier. But maybe that's just something we 'get over' as a society. Glasses are probably at one of their 'coolest' points, aesthetically, right now. To where even people who don't need them regularly wear them as a fashion thing, and while that's never happened with bluetooth headsets, that could just be a 'before its time' sort of thing. I mean, arguably staring at your phone all the time is just as dorky as wearing a bluetooth but we don't even question that. In a science fiction sense, I would like to believe that Sci-fi style holograms that float in air and are able to be interacted with in a quasi-physical manner is an actual possibility. Something like Tony Stark's lab in the Iron Man/Avengers movies. But that just seems like it's asking too much and would be actual magic to make it work. Still, if that was at all possible, I think it would come to dominate all consumer electronics where the 'device' would basically stop existing in a purely physical sense. I guess, in some respects Kinect technology is trying to address this concept, and maybe that's possible in a controlled setting. Another sci-fi reference point that comes to mind is Cloud Atlas (movie version) where characters in the future sequences are seen using handheld devices(Samsungs actually, though in the book they are referred as Sonys) that generate numerous floating displays in mid air that can be used for anything. Again, probably pure magic, but the point between both those sci-fi examples is that I think the 'goal' of the next form factor whatever it is, will likely be towards removing as much of the 'device' as possible. Similar to how the iPhone was so starkly minimalist compared to smartphones of its day and it became a "the software makes the device", well, what if the next step is figuring out how to make the hardware as flexible and impermanent as the software is today. Quote:
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Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
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I don't think we'll be seeing a see through iPad any time soon because I simply can's see a reason for it to be transparent. Impressive as it looks, what's the point with it? I'm pretty sure that all those people who blame Apple for choosing form over function would have feast on that thing if it ever happened.
Regarding wearable devices there is definitely some questions that haven't been answered and which I would like to see Apple have a go at. Google's Goggles sound great on paper, but as you note, if a Bluetooth earpiece looks dorky what is a pair of Googles not going to look like? There's also the issue about how most people who wears glasses very much prefer very light weight glasses. This doesn't seem to fit well with taking something akin to a smartphone and hanging it on your ears and nose. Maybe the answer would be to put the processing unit in your pocket and only have the interfaces in the goggles? And then it would still be weird for someone like me, who hardly even use sunglasses, to get used to wearing glasses as often as I would have my phone on my person. In that regard I think the smart watch is more likely be successful if someone can come up with a user interface that rivals that of the smart phone. And yes, you may be right about your quibble. Maybe I should have used "product idea" instead of simply "product" to underscore the half baked nature of the competition. |
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2. It would be a huge step for augmented reality apps which I think will be huge in the future |
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Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
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There's a very big difference between thinner and lighter, and transparent. All the viewing comfort afforded by a retina display is wasted if your eyes are constantly distracted by whatever is behind your iPad. And for augmented reality the rear facing camera will give you the same experience without the drawbacks. Oh, and designing a tablet that will encourage more people to hold it up like those people who takes pictures with it at concerts etc. is just plain wrong.
B&O once made a remote with a see though screen. It was really cool, but also pretty pointless. |
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Yarp
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Road Warrior
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Well, the transparent thing I think is perhaps compromising some level of function(wrt light passing through the device) for style, but I think the draw to it is that concept of 'removing the device entirely', a transparent approach would just be the extreme(and maybe impractical) end of that. But I think we'll be seeing iPads moving in that direction just the same where they become as seamless as possible, as 'one-piece' as possible...etc. Like, if you look at a Magic Trackpad, imagine if that was iPad sized without the battery bump, where the whole device just looked and felt like a single piece of aluminum like that. In fact, I would say the Magic Trackpad is a decent benchmark in other ways as well. Supposing the glass on top of the magic trackpad was also a transparent multitouch display? supposing the device looks like a thin slice of aluminum when it's off, but when it turns on an interface appears.
Yeah, it's not exactly 'different form factor' but you get to where things are that minimalist, and if you can make them durable to boot, I think that will play a role in (yet again) redefining our usage and perception of these devices. And yeah, I think if smart-headwear/eyewear is ever going to make sense it has to be featherweight or be linked to a device in your pocket(or on your wrist) I can respect the work Google is putting into the Glass project, but I'd eat my hat if that particularly design concept wound up becoming mainstream, even if the overall concept of eyewear-as-smartphone takes off. |
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Formerly Roboman, still
awesome Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
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I still think the next big new thing for Apple will be a reinvented app-centric TV for the 21st century. At least I hope it is, because that's a product that I think literally only Apple can make right now — the required red tape with cable companies and content providers has got to be just insane, and nobody else seems to realize how broken TV is. Rumor has it that Jobs was heavily involved in the necessary negotiations in his final months; I think this could be the year we see it (and I note that the first eight months of the year are essentially empty of due iProduct), though there doesn't seem to be quite the necessary levels of pre-unveiling smoke yet.
The popularity of (or at least, interest in) the 6th gen iPod nano as a psuedo-watch was not lost on Apple, and I'm quite sure they're paying close attention to the Pebble and others. However, if Apple were to produce a smartwatch, I think it's more likely that they would position it as an iPhone accessory rather than a computing platform in its own right, at least initially. |
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Space Pirate
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
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Watches and transparent devices seem like a dead end to me too.
Low margin and decorative. Still, wearable computing is going to happen, and if there's something Apple knows it's fashion. Short putt. I fear that without Jobs' madman act the big deal Robo mentions could have already fallen through. But I hope it happens. Not exactly a form factor, but what about the production of original content to go along with such a service? Netflix is doing it, Amazon is doing it, why get left behind? Perhaps it plugs into Apple devices, but a lock-in would be dumb. I have more ideas, but am watching BAFTAs and am tired of tapping this out on iPad. Oh, stuff with more SIRI built in. ... Last edited by drewprops : 2013-02-11 at 01:29. Reason: Forgot the word "Still". Kind of important. |
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Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
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Rumours emerge: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/02...h-like-device/
Interesting btw. that we now have two very different categories on the table, a TV vs. wearables. Could we be so lucky to get both? |
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Stallion
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Milwaukee
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Am I the only one that thinks that a watch will be a huge bust?
Who wears a watch anymore? Sure, some people do for fashion, but those tend to be high end elegant watches. What problem is the watch solving? I carry my phone in my pocket. Sure, I don't when exercising, but I don't want to be distracted by stuff then anyway. Plugging in headphones to a watch just seems weird because the wire would be all up in my business. In my pocket seems to be much more useable. I don't think this will be a blockbuster or even a hit at all. I could be convinced if there is a killer "app" for it that I'm not considering. I guess I just don't see what a watch could do that would compel me to wear one when I already have access to a clock/etc in my pocket. I *DO* think the potential for a television is insanely huge, but I also think that will be primarily American based and not necessarily a global hit. Imagine the pain of securing content in hundreds of countries. Oye... Having said that, if I can reduce my total content cost by ditching cable television and getting my content ala carte for a cost savings, I'm all in. ...and calling/e-mailing/texting ex-girlfriends on the off-chance they'll invite you over for some "old time's sake" no-strings couch gymnastics... |
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Formerly “MumboJumbo”
Join Date: Dec 2009
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I think the next big form factor will still be the iPhone in terms of size but (and I've seen a few videos that also show this) the "growth" will be in sensors that and projector type mechanisms. A small Kinect type sensor on one side that can detect what you do with your virtual keyboard. The onscreen keyboard is still available for use as well when not using this configuration. Likewise the screen can be on the phone, projected onto a surface or can connect wirelessly via other screens only, unlike now, the touch screen is still available for use when the other screen forms are being used. Thus you can set your phone down in front of a monitor and it will wirelessly send information to it while your phone becomes your "mouse" and projects or allows you to connect a keyboard wirelessly as an example.
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BANNED
I am worthless beyond hope. Join Date: Dec 2005
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I expect the watch, if it comes to market, will be nothing more than iOS's notification center on your wrist in a sleek package (since Apple does design well) and it will be marketed as an iPhone accessory for $79-$99. I don't see how other features make much sense beyond simple notifications and maybe basic bluetooth controls (start, stop, skip, volume up/down, answer call, etc). even then.... you still need to have headphones on for any of those operations to even make sense.... and those headphones likely have those same controls. I don't see a watch having a speaker.... so its hard for me to see how the watch will be anything more than a notification center if we make the assumption that it is just an iPhone accessory. If it is it's own device with bluetooth headphones.... sure... but that's a different, more expensive product, and one that I'm not sure has a purpose.
Watches aren't cool now, and I know very few people who wear watches, but Apple has the ability to make watches the iPod earbuds of the next few years. An Apple TV is a much more complicated matter and I think too many people overestimate it's success potential. TVs are a mature, saturated, and low margin market segment. Apple may be able to carve out a niche for itself, but slow upgrade cycles, cost conscious consumers, and ridiculously complicated content deals (regionally and internationally) make it very difficult to honestly say it will be a huge product category for Apple. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
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I could see an Apple watch incorporating Notification Center, plus the functionality of something like the Fitbit Flex. If Apple released a device like that for $99-149, they would own that market.
That said, I don't see them being motivated to do that right now. The way I see it, Apple's tendency is to get into more mature, stagnating markets and disrupt them. (See: MP3 players, tablets) The fitness tracker market feels a little too nascent for Apple to get involved. At this point, it would be like Apple making a netbook at the height of that craze. IMO. In three years, that's a different story. In the end, I do think TV is Apple's next big market, whether that's through a beefed up Apple TV-like device with an App Store or a dedicated TV (ideally, they would do both). Three or four years down the line, if the smartwatch/fitness tracker market is still around, Apple jumps in and owns it. |
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ಠ_ರೃ
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
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No, for practicality, you carry around a phone. Watches are decorative. The fact that they also tell the time is a nice little bonus. Any computer on your wrist would be either too small to use or too large to wear. No amount of clever engineering could fix that. Outside of a Star Wars-style holographic projector I guess. I know "convergence" is an old idea that's been kicked around a ton, but that's where we're headed. In the 90s, everyone loved talking about how all your devices would be combined into a single one. And that's basically happened with smart TVs and do-everything smartphones. We've already seen a few lukewarm attempts to merge phones with computers, like with the Motorola Atrix or Asus Padfone. Or Ubuntu for Android for that matter. They haven't become really popular yet but it's just a matter of time. This may be one area where Apple can step in and do their thing -- build off of existing ideas that didn't work so well, and refine them into something that really works. So maybe in some years you'll be able to plug your iPhone into a dock on your desk and seamlessly continue working from where you left off instead of having to worry about syncing or whatever. |
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Space Pirate
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
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El Gallo mentioned the one idea that NEEDS to take off.
Sensor packages. This turns your smartphone into the Star Trek tricorder. GREAT TOPIC. But then I think we've wandered away from the "form factor" discussion - my posts are somewhat guilty of that. ... |
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Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
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Anyways, I personally prefer the watch idea, so here's some more thoughts about that: I think the key to success will be to solve several UI problems at the same time and come away with a product that can function independently of other devices. Minimum feature set required: 1. Phone calls (or VoIP) 2. Messaging (SMS, iMessages, chat, email) 3. Planning (calendar, tasks) 4. Navigation (sat nav, compass) 5. Music player (too small for video) 6. Web browsing (very basic) 7. Being able to talk to other devices and services 8. At least one full days worth of battery 9. Sufficiently durable to resist shocks, bumps and fluids Well, maybe we could toss a couple of features and still have a success on our hands, but different folks want different stuff, and nine features aren't a lot these days. Design issues: 1) Phone calls have the issue that if the speaker is located in the watch then you either have to hold it up to your ear, or use an ear piece. I think the hold it up approach is most reasonable. Try and put your watch wearing hands wrist up to your ear, if the speaker was located on the strap/chain on the opposite side than the actual watch then it can quite comfortably be held right next to your ear. The microphones should also be able to work from this position. Which leaves only the question of wether you think this is a more dorky way of talking on the phone than the ear piece. 2) Reading text should be possible on a small screen (1.5”), but entering text will be too inconvenient, but that’s where Siri can help us. An alternative to actually reading your messages could be to have a little electrical pulse emitter on the inside of the watch that could pulse you messages in morse code. That may be too hard to learn for most people, but the old boy scout in me would f***ing love such a gimmick. 3) Same issues as messaging as far as I am concerned. 4) This one is really going to take “pinch and zoom” to a new low level, but I think navigation is such a popular feature these days that leaving it out would compromise its value as an independent device. 5) As mentioned before, no room for the mini-jack so it’s going to be Bluetooth only. 6) I think this feature is the most difficult to implement because the small screen simply can’t help but to make it a tortured experience. Even mobile websites would have to scale down by half to just fit horizontally. 7) Sort of a notification centre for other devices and services relay information to and maybe receive instructions in return. 8) This one is going to be a bit difficult. But by getting rid of things such as the mini-jack the SIM slot and perhaps by fitting battery cells inside the strap/chain it might be possible to get a reasonable battery life. I don’t think rotors like those in mechanical watches can generate nearly enough power compared to the room they would steal away from the batteries. 9) Getting rid of ports and plugs and placing the speaker and microphones away from the main body should allow the main body of the watch to be more or less a sealed piece of hardware. There would probably still need to be a Lightning connector for charging and stuff, though. It’s also pretty much a given that the iFixit rating will be 1 or 0 out of 10. There's a lot of work in the above, but if anyone can pull it off it will be Apple. I have omitted any talk of apps at this point because I think, like the first iPhone, it will be more important to get the basic user experience right first. None of the existing iOS apps will run on such a small screen anyway, so everyone will have to make new apps at some point anyway. And those apps would also be running on some much weaker hardware, since we are talking about some serious shrinkage coming from an iPhone here. |
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BANNED
I am worthless beyond hope. Join Date: Dec 2005
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An iPhone does all of the above better and more efficiently with a better user experience.
Holding your wrist up to your ear? really? This seems like forcing things into a medium that they simply do not work well. For what reason? To be different? It seems more likely that if Apple were to make a smartwatch, they would focus on the things a watch and small connected display would do well at and do so simply..... that would include basic information, notifications, possibly messages, time, weather, call information, possibly simple navigational directions, workout statistics, song information/album art. Really... just look at the 6th generation nano and imagine if it had an active sync to an iPhone. Bluetooth headphones are a dead end IMO. Yet another device to charge... so now you need to charge two devices just to use one, you always have to have them on to use, they aren't cheap, and Apple hasn't even been tempted to try them out on their iPods. Note: I'm not attacking you... just the idea of these smart watches replacing phones... just my thoughts. Last edited by Brave Ulysses : 2013-02-11 at 13:58. |
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Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
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ಠ_ರೃ
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
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Apple changed the form factor of the iPod Nano because the 1.5" screen was too small to be useful for much of anything and people who really cared about a small form factor could just get a Shuffle instead. I'm sort of surprised they even bothered with it in the first place, but they've shown in the past that they don't mind occasionally trying an oddball form factor only to go back to something that works (see: Morse Code Shuffle). |
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Yarp
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Road Warrior
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Security professionals talk into their wrists all the time, so it's not the worst thing in the world to ask the average person to do that, even if they look like a G-man or something, but how do you make it work without also having an earpiece in your ear? I suppose it might be conceivable to have a speaker on the inside of the wrist device that faces upward toward your fingers, maybe cupping your hand would keep the sound relatively private, but it'd probably sound terrible and you'd still end up looking a bit like a burke as you tried to do it. Not to mention that talking into your wrist for a prolonged call would probably be awkward.
I can't rule it out entirely, I mean, some flip phones opened up basically put their microphone end near your wrist anyway, but it still doesn't feel like a great solution overall. And yeah, on top of that the screen would just be too small no matter what you did, so it wouldn't be a 'smartphone' really, but if it's not a smartphone, then what's the point? I think BU is right that if Apple ever went down this route it would be treated as a novel iPhone(or even iPad) accessory and little else. |
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BANNED
I am worthless beyond hope. Join Date: Dec 2005
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Also, when the phone isn't to my ear, it has a 4" screen (or larger to interact with), a watch would have a 1.25"? For what reason? To wear on my wrist and not in my pocket? These are serious practical questions that need to be answered to justify the device. Quote:
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Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
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What I'm trying to say here guys, is that you should be more willing to use your imagination. |
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BANNED
I am worthless beyond hope. Join Date: Dec 2005
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Right now: iPhone = 1 device, fully functional without another device. Smart watch = optional accessory for iPhone Your proposal: iWatch = watch plus blue tooth headset. 2 devices to be fully functional. Quote:
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Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
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Though, in the interest of shipping something within a reasonable timeframe, I may agree to a watch that initially acts as peripheral to the iPhone. Just to warm people up to the idea. |
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BANNED
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Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
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BANNED
I am worthless beyond hope. Join Date: Dec 2005
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I'm just pointing out the inconveniences and shortcomings of the watch compared to the existing solution... the phone. I've yet to see anything the watch does better. So why bother? |
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Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
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The iWatch would be more portable, just like wrist watch is more potable than a pocket watch. It would be more readily accessible than your iPhone, which is the entire rationale behind the Pebble. And finally it would be much more cool.
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Space Pirate
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
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I have SOLVED this one!!
Seriously, follow along. Scates can make us a mockup. Help me with this... it really is a new form factor... Introducing the iHELMET !!! WIDESCREEN DISPLAY SURROUND SOUND Nothing to clutter your arm or your pockets. You won't have to lift your arm to your face or hold a phone to your head. Drop it? Ha! It's a HELMET! No stupid eyeglasses like Google Glass. It's a BADASS HELMET!!! Totally customizable. Can hold 5TB of RAM. Built-in high-quality microphone. I think you see what I'm saying here. Let's get this thing going. Took a space pirate to show you idiots the light. You're welcome. ... |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: State of Flux
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Some mock-ups of iWatch for your amusement (in some cases, quite hideous).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...912540&index=0 |
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